Newt and his Nan
by FeeBe
Summary: Newt has afternoon tea with his Nan, the niffler and the suitcase. Sequel to- Ron Really Wants to Know What is Going On Treat or Treat challenge- Tonks 15-Tawny


It was summer, school had finished a month ago, and Newt was waiting patiently for results of his OWLs. He had decided to head into London to visit his Nan. The visit would serve two purposes. One, there was the off chance that he might run into his best friend Leta who was often forced to visited with the Blacks at their London Townhouse. And two it also had the side benefit of getting him out of the house, out from under the feet of his Mother and out from under the eye of his elder brother Theseus. Theseus so tall and straight, and well liked. Theseus so clever and bright and the apple of their parents eye. Theseus who was making their parents proud and despite being so busy as an auror always came to Sunday dinner. Theseus who being so much older never failed to use the summer holidays to try to dissuade Newt from attempting to make Magizoology his career of choice. He knew his mother agreed with Theseus though she had never directly said anything.

His Father's mother was a solitary woman and had been that way since Newt's Grandfather had passed. Therefore it was with much surprise that Newt upon entering Madam Scamander's apartment discovered a suitcase on her living room floor. It seemed most unlikely that she would have a visitor. He was just heading towards the kitchen to investigate when his attention was caught by the sound of a high pitched whine.

There, sitting on the top of the bag was a small furry creature. He could see an elongated snout, and long black claws on tawny leathery skin, though most of the creature was covered in a dark black fur. Its claws were clasped around a sparkling golden device and it was this which, despite not being able to see its pouch, made the penny drop. A Niffler…..an upset niffler. Nothing like this was covered in Care of Magical Creatures! How exciting.

Newt was entranced.

The creature cried again.

Newt hunkered down in front of the beast, lowering his body to make himself seem as unthreatening as possible. Cautiously he stretched out an arm, "Shh, shhh, come here," he reached out to the skittish creature, "Come on." He gently picked up the furry little rodent. "What are you doing here, hmm?" he crooned and chucked it under its bill.

With the niffler tucked under one arm Newt opened the case….

"Newt is that you?" the voice from the next room startled the pair.

The creature wiggled out of Newt's grip with surprising speed and dove into the suitcase, the lid flopped shut behind it. Newt pushed himself up of the ground with a sigh.

"In here Nan," he shyly ducked his head as she entered the room.

"Oh Newt, I'm so glad you could spare an afternoon for a tired old woman like me. Now how was school?" she reached out a hand towards him and gestured him into the kitchen.

The afternoon progressed in the typical stilted pattern that all Newt's conversation took, though at least there was tea. For some reason tea always helped. In some ways it was a relief for Newt to sit and converse with his Nan, or Grandmother as Theseus would call her, because she didn't seem to have the same aversion to him that most people did. Newt was aware that he didn't understand people, and they in turn didn't really understand him. His Mother had explained that when people, especially children, didn't understand something, they ridiculed it, or pushed it aside. As if he had needed to be told. As if knowing made it hurt any less.

It wasn't that Newt disliked people per se, it was just that they were so…. complicated. Saying one thing and meaning another. Animals, now animals were much simpler. Newt kept his eyes on his tea cup.

"Now Newt," his Nan drew him back from his contemplation. Their conversation slowly evolved to cover his friend Leta and what a mystery she was ('somethings not right Nan, why do they speak to her so?'), how well he thought he would do on his Owls ('at least I think I have passed everything') and what his job prospects were after Hogwarts ('it has to be something to do with animals! Maybe caring for injured creatures. Is there a job like that Nan? I rescued a baby snidget in the forbidden forest…").

Around their second cup of tea, Newt noticed a scrabbling noise from the lounge room and was reminded of the case that rested there, well actually it was the niffler that he remembered first, but that bought to mind the possibility of his Nan having guests.

He cocked his head to the side, "Nan where …oh um…you have….um…a visitor… where?"

Madam Scamander looked at him bemusedly, "What visitor Newt?"

"There's, ah, in your lounge," he waved his hands towards the other room, "on the floor, near the couch….?"

"That's not much clearer, dear one. Try again?" she encouraged him gently. "Start at the beginning, in your own time."

"Oh," Newt obediently took a big gulp of air, and then slumped. "When I came, I saw….a suitcase…..on the floor…..by the couch." His eyes rose to meet her's briefly, before returning to the teacup that he was fidgeting with. "On top of it there was a Niffler. I didn't think you knew anyone who would….?"

Newt never got any further as his Grandmother had stood, drawn her wand and moved towards the lounge room with a surprising efficiency of movement.

"Oh…um… I don't think…." Newt stood to follow her, fumbling to pull his wand out of his pocket.

"I really must get Theseus to give you a holster one of these days and to teach you how to use it."

"Oh Thee doesn't need….I mean….I couldn't ask…..he's so busy and important and…..shouldn't bother…."

"None of that now, your brother loves you very much. Now hush Newt."

She peered around the wall into the other room, it was empty. Just as she stepped into the space, the lid of the suitcase lifted and a long snout poked out.

"Are you sure this isn't yours Newton?" she asked with a smile.

Without meeting her gaze, Newt shook his head.

"Well then I guess we will just have to look for clues." The elder reached out and gentle flipped open the lid on the box. The Niffler sprang towards her, reaching for the necklace she wore. She lurched backwards falling on to her rump.

"No no no no no no," Newt muttered. "No," he said more firmly. "This isn't the way we behave. leave it alone." He reached over and gentle unhooked the paws that where tightly clasped around the pendant on the end of the golden chain. "I know it looks nice, but we don't take things that aren't ours."

He stood, cuddling the creature in his arms, while his Nan sat upon the floor.

"Goodness. Newton, I am putting you in charge of this animal. He will be your responsibility,"

"How….I mean…How do you know it's a boy?" Newt cocked his head to the side again as he peered down at the fur ball in his arms.

"I don't," she said simply. "But they are usually more trouble! Now you hold on to…..it and we'll see about this case. She looked quite the sight with her head and shoulders inside the suitcase and her backside in the air. Newt peered over her shoulder trying to see.

"Right," the grey-haired woman said as she extracted herself from the suitcase. "It looks like a little room down there but there is a door, so I am going in. Watch my back will you Newt, hmm?" Before Newt could respond she had turned her back, grasped the handles o the ladder and was climbing down inside the case.

"Watch my back?" Newt repeated bemused. "Nan why your back? Wouldn't it be better to watch…."

"Not now Newt," she called. Then with a slight thump she stepped off the bottom of the ladder. "Now down you come laddie. I won't go on until you get here."

"Into the box…she means…yes? Ok, right, in we go?" Newt said to the niffler. He tried to hold onto both the ladder and the niffler at the same time, an impossible task, so eventually he made his way into the suitcase with the niffler perched on the top his head.

"Not much here is there," his Nan commented as he reached the bottom.

She was right. There was an all but empty bench along one wall and pushed in under a camp stretcher, with a blanket folded up and neatly placed on the pillow. At the far end of the bench there was a single hand written book, which his Grandmother ha d picked up and was leafing through the pages, a soft small sliding onto her face.

"Are you sure this isn't yours, dear one?" she asked, passing the book to him.

"No Nan," Newt took the book, without looking at it. "I just have my Hogwarts trunk."

"Alright then should we investigate what's through here," she said as she opened the only door in the room and stepped out.

The niffler jumped off Newt's head and scuttled out of the door after. Newt watched them go. The door swung closed behind them.

…

…

"Newt are you coming? I think you might like this," he heard his Nan called.

Newt tentatively reached out his arm, to push open door, and stepped through it into paradise.


End file.
